Garment-carrying bag hook assemblages



Dec. 7, 1965 H. L. O'NEIL GARMENT-CARRYING BAG HOOK ASSEMBLAGES Filed Sept. 14, 1962 INVENTOR. HARVEY L. o'mzu. WYMZEWM ATTOR NEYS United States Patent 3,221,843 GARMENT-CARRYING BAG 1109K ASSEMBLAGES Harvey L. GNeil, Lebanon, Tenn., assignor to Hartmann Luggage Company, Lebanon, Tenn, a corporation of Delaware Filed Sept. 14, 1962, Ser. No. 223,601 Claims. (Cl. 190-43) This invention relates to improvements in garmentcarrying bag hook assemblages, and more particularly to the hook and trolley assemblage for a flexible garmentcarrying bag which will house full-length garments for suspension in full-length condition, the carrier or bag also being foldable medially upon itself for hand-carrying purposes.

In recent years the type of flexible garment-carrying bag for full-length garments which can be hung in outstretched condition from a support or hook in an automobile, Pullman compartment, closet, or door to enclose full-length garments with a minimum of wrinkling, has become popular with the traveling public. Customarily, these garment-carrying bags are also arranged so that when they are to be manually carried they may be folded medially upon themselves and grasped by a handle in the manner of an ordinary suitcase or piece of hand luggage. In the outstretched condition of the bag, one end Wall thereof, which becomes the top wall, has mounted thereon a foldable hook which, when projected upwardly, is engageable with the top of a closet door, or with a closet or wall-mounted hook. When the bag is in its folded condition for hand transportation, the wall which was at the top in the outstretched condition of the bag becomes one of the bottom wall sections of the folded case, and the hook mounted thereon must be susceptible of being folded to a non-protruding, out-of-the-way position parallel With the plane of said wall.

In the conventional flexible garment-carrying bag the suspending hook which is foldably or pivotally carried by said end wall of the bag, is devoid of means for retaining it in an upright position. Consequently, with the bag in its outstretched condition it is diflicult to project the hook and hang the extended bag from a support, as it is necessary to hold the bag outstretched with one hand and to additionally manipulate the hook and hold it with the other hand in a standup position for hooking engagement with an elevated support, whereby the bag, with the garments therein, is depended in full length condition.

With the above in mind, it is, therefore, a primary object of the present invention to provide in a garmentcarrying bag, :a foldable end wall hook assemblage having means for holding the hook in an upright or standup position whereby the manipulator, while holding and elevating the outstretched bag, may conveniently engage the standup hook with an elevated support without manually holding said hook.

A further object of the invention is to provide, in a garment-carrying bag, a hook and trolley assemblage which includes a plate mounted interio-rly of and reinforcing an end wall of the case, and forming means for pivotally mounting a hook projecting exteriorly of the end wall of the case, and further providing a mounting interiorly of said end wall of the case for extensile and retractile trolleys.

A further object of the invention is to provide a garment-carrying bag hook and trolley assemblage which is of very simple construction, which provides an easily manipulatable bag hanging hook and clothes hanger trolleys, which is strong and durable, and which is well adapted for the purposes described. I

With the above and other objects in View, the inven- 3,221,848 Patented Dec. 7, 1965 tion consists of the improved garment-carrying bag hook assemblage and its parts and combinations, as set forth in the claims, and all equivalents thereof.

In the accompanying drawing, in which the same reference characters indicate the same parts in all of the views:

FIG. 1 is an end and side perspective view of a garment-carrying bag embodying the improved book assemblage with the bag being shown in its folded, handtransportable condition;

FIG. 2 is a slightly reduced front and side perspective view of the garment-carrying bag in its outstretched condition with the suspending hook projected upwardly to permit the bag to be hung from a support in full-length, outstretched condition;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken approximately along the line 3--3 of FIG 2 Showing the hook in its unlocked standup or projected position for suspension of the outstretched bag from an elevated support;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the hook in standup position and the extensile' and retractile trolleys, the supporting plate therefor also being shown but wall portions of the bag being omitted; and

FIG. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional View taken approximately along line 5-5 of FIG. 3 only showing the hook in its locked standup position.

Referring now more particularly to the drawing, it should be understood that the present invention is concerned primarily with the assemblage shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 which is adapted to be incorporated in a garmentcarrying bag of the type shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, generally indicated by the numeral 7. The garment-carrying bag to which the present invention is applied is essentially similar to that disclosed in the Ritter Patent No. 2,702,105 of February 15, 1955. It is unnecessary, therefore, to describe the bag 7 in detail, other than to state it is of a flexible type adapted to accommodate fulllength garments. The bag, when hung from a hook or elevated support in an automobile or Pullman compartment, or when in a closet, may be suspended in the outstretched full-length condition shown in FIG 2. For hand transportation, the bag is arranged to be folded medially upon itself and the reinforced transverse median 8 of the bag 7 (see FIG. 1) is provided with a carrying handle 9. Also, straps 19, or similar securing means, are provided to releasably hold the companion sections of the bag in folded-upon-themselves relationship when the bag is to be manually carried in the condition of FIG. 1.

One end wall of the bag is adapted to be the top when the bag is in its full length, outstretched condition shown in FIG. 2. Said end Wall of the bag is reinforced by a panel 11 formed of plastic, wood or other stiffening material, and it is covered exteriorly by the flexible covering material 12, which may be cloth, canvass, plastic material, or the like. Secured to and underlying the major extent of the panel 11 is an eccentrically-shaped metal plate 13, on which is rotatably mounted a stud or post 14 whose axis is perpendicular to the plane of the metal plate 13, and which post projects outwardly of said reinforced end Wall. The base of the post 14 is reduced as at 14' and said reduced portion engages a circular opening 15 thereof in the plate 13 and the post 14 is rotatably mounted relative to the plate by means of a stud 16 with a washer 17 interposed between the head of the stud and the under surface of the plate 13. The flexible covering material 12 has an opening therein to accommodate the outwardly protruding portion of the post 14. The outer end portion of the post 14 is slotted as at 18 to receive therein the flattened, inner end portion 19' of a hook member generally indicated by the numeral 19. A transverse stud passing through the slotted portion 18 of the post engages loosely in an elongated slot 21 is said flattened inner end portion 19' of the hook, whereby the hook may be manually shifted inwardly and outwardly relative to the post slot 18 and when the hook is extended outwardly it may pivot in a vertical plane on the stud 20. When the hook is pushed to its furthest position inwardly relative to the post slot, a tongue 22. on the inner extremity of the hook end 19 will seat in a U-shaped recess 23 therefor in the bottom of the post slot, which will cause the hook to remain in an upright or standup position relative to said end wall of the out-stretched garment bag, being prevented thereby from pivoting or folding on the stud 20, because the recess 23 is surrounded by the stock of the post 14 and is in fact a local socket.

As noted heretofore, the eccentrically-shaped metal plate 13 underlies the stiffening panel 11 of the end wall of the bag which carries the improved assemblage. The under surface of said metal plate 13 has welded or otherwise secured thereto, adjacent the front margin of said plate, a pair of spaced-apart small plates 24 Whose mid portions are formed with channels 25 to slidably engage the top bar portions of rectangular trolleys 26. The garment bag 7 is of the type which, when in its full-length, outstretched position, has a slide fastener controlled closure flap 27 (see FIG. 2), which, when opened or released, affords access to the full-length garment compartment within the interior of the bag, said compartment being intended to house suits, coats, dresses, or other full-length garments which are mounted on conventional clothes hangers (not shown), with the latter being depended from said slidable trolleys 26 which are adapted to be extended or retracted through the opening in the bag controlled by the closure flap 27. The trolley 26 shown in FIG. 3 is in its retracted position, whereas the trolley at the left in FIG. 4 is shown extended or projected. The inner end portion of the top bar of each trolley 26 is flattened as at 28, forming ears or stops which limit the forward or outwardly-projected positions of the slidable trolleys.

The plate 13, which mounts the trolleys 26 and the pivotal hook post 14, underlies the wall reinforcing panel 11. The plate bears the stress, strain and weight of the trolleys and garments suspended therefrom and also provides a secure and stable mounting for the hook-carrying post 14. Thus the strains and stresses are distributed over the entire area of the plate and local strains are eliminated.

As Was indicated heretofore, the garment-carrying bag can, when it is to be carried manually, be folded to the position shown in FIG. 1. However, it may likewise be opened out and suspended in its full-length condition, in the manner shown in FIG. 2. The latter is the position which the bag should assume when it is being used in a Pullman compartment, hotel room or other location where it is desired to have the bag outstretched for packing or unpacking purposes. The standup lock for the hook 19 is especially desirable when one is attempting to hang the bag in its outstretched condition from an overhead hook, door top, or the like. For this purpose the strap 29 (see FIG. 1), which normally holds the hook in a flattened condition against an end wall section of the case, is unsnapped to release the hook 19, and the latter is then pivoted on the stud 20 to an upright position. The hook 19 and post 14 are then pivoted on a vertical axis so as to dispose the hooking portion 30 of the hook 19 toward the rear or in a position to engage an elevated supporting member. Because it is most inconvenient and diflicult to simultaneously hold the outstretched bag 7 in an elevated position against a door or wall and to simultaneously manipulate the hook and hold it in a standup position, the structure of the present invention provides for locking the hook 19 in its upright or standup position prior to engaging the hook portion 30 with an elevated support. This is accomplished by shifting the flattened inner end portion 19' of the hook member downwardly in the post slot 18 until the tongue 22 engages in the squared recess 23 therefor in the base of the post slot 18. When this engagement is accomplished, as in FIG. 5, the hook will temporarily remain in its upright or standup position so that the manipulator need only hold the outstretched bag and engage the portion 30 of the hook with an elevated support. When this engagement is made, the bag may, of course, be manually released and the flattened portion 19' of the hook, because of the slot 21 therein engaging the stud 20, will permit the bag to drop slightly, disengaging the tongue 22 from the post recess 23.

From the foregoing description it will be evident that the improved hook assemblage for a garment-carrying bag provides means for temporarily locking or holding the hook in a standup position when it is desired to suspend the opened-up bag from an elevated support. When the bag is folded upon itself for hand-carrying, the hook is free to be pivotally moved to a position parallel with the plane of the adjacent end wall of the bag and to be so retained. The improved assemblage further includes the supporting and reinforcing plate 13 and the depended garment hanger trolleys 26, which are extensible and retractible relative to the open front of the bag for packing and unpacking purposes. The improved garment-carrying hook assemblage is easily incorporated in a conventional garment-carrying bag, is very convenient to manipulate, is strong and durable, and is otherwise well adapted for the purposes set forth.

What is claimed as the invention is:

1. In a garment bag having a reinforced end wall portion, a post turnably mounted on said end wall portion, the outer end portion of said post being recessed, a hook having a shank portion extended into the recess of the post, said shank portion of the post having an elongated slot therein, a pin carried by the post and engaging the slot of the hook shank portion to permit pivotal movement of the hook relative to the post and to permit limited projection and retraction of the hook relative to the post, and cooperating means on the inner end of the hook shank and in the base of the post recess to releasably retain the hook in an adjusted position perpendicular to the plane of the reinforced end wall portion of the bag.

2. In a garment bag having a reinforced end wall portion, a post turnably mounted on said end wall portion on an axis perpendicular to the plane of said wall portion, the outer end portion of said post being recessed with a shouldered cavity in the base thereof, a hook having a shank portion extended into the recess of the post, said shank portion of the post having an elongated slot therein, a pin carried by the post and engaging the slot of the hook shank portion to permit pivotal movement of the hook relative to the post and to permit limited projection and retraction of the hook relative to the post, and a tongue on the inner end of the hook shank to seat in said shouldered cavity to releasably retain the hook in an adjusted position perpendicular to the plane of the reinforced end wall portion of the bag.

3. In a garment bag having an end wall portion, a plate underlying and reinforcing said end wall portion, a post turnably mounted on said end wall portion perpendicular thereto, the outer end portion of said post being recessed with a shouldered cavity in the base thereof, a hook having a shank portion extended into the recess of the post, said shank portion of the post having an elongated slot therein, a pin carried by the post and en gaging the slot of the hook shank portion to permit piv- Otal movement of the hook relative to the 1 8i and. l

permit limited projection and retraction of the hook relative to the post, a tongue on the inner end of the hook shank to seat in said shouldered cavity to releasably retain the hook in an adjusted position perpendicular to the plane of the reinforced end wall portion of the bag, and trolleys movably depended from said plate within the confines of the garment bag.

4. In a garment bag having a reinforced end wall portion, a post turnably mounted on said end wall portion, the outer end portion of said post being recessed, a suspending hook having a shank portion extending into said post recess, said hook being carried by said post, said hook being movable from an inoperative position against said bag end Wall portion to an operative position perpendicular to the plane of said end wall portion, and cooperating means on the inner end of the hook shank and in the base of the post recess to releasably retain the hook in an adjusted position perpendicular to the plane of the reinforced end wall portion of the bag.

5. In a garment bag having an end wall portion, a post turnably mounted on said end wall portion, the outer end portion of said post being recessed, a hook having a shank portion extended into the recess of said post, means pivotally and reciprocatably movably mounting the shank portion of the hook Within said post recess, and cooperating means on the inner end of the hook shank and in the base of the post recess to releasably retain the hook in an adjusted position perpendicular to the plane of said end wall portion of the bag.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS FRANKLIN T. GARRETT, Primary Examiner. 

1. IN A GARMENT BAG HAVING A REINFORCED END WALL PORTION, A POST TURNABLY MOUNTED ON SAID END WALL PORTION, THE OUTER END PORTION OF SAID POST BEING RECESSED, A HOOK HAVING A SHANK PORTION EXTENDED INTO THE RECESS OF THE POST, SAID SHANK PORTION OF THE POST HAVING A ELONGATED SLOT THEREIN, A PIN CARRIED BY THE POST AND ENGAGING THE SLOT OF THE HOOK SHANK PORTION TO PERMIT PIVOTAL MOVEMENT OF THE HOOK RELATIVE TO THE POST AND TO PERMIT LIMITED PROJECTION AND RETRACTION OF THE HOOK RELATIVE TO THE POST, AND COOPERATING MEANS ON THE INNER END OF THE HOOK SHANK AND IN THE BASE OF THE POST RECESS TO RELEASABLY RETAIN THE HOOK IN AN ADJUSTED POSITION PERPENDICULAR TO THE PLANE OF THE REINFORCED END WALL PORTION OF THE BAG. 